Mobile Network Sharing is an ever growing area driven by the opportunity for operators/service providers to reduce their costs (as ARPU due to data declines) by sharing CAPEX and OPEX of spectrum, sites, access and core network equipment while still allowing for significant service differentiation. Wholesaling is a generalization of Mobile Network Sharing wherein multiple retail partners (using different models or architectures of network sharing) purchase the capacity and user licenses in the RAN and EPC from a Wholesale Operator who is responsible for building, operating and maintaining the network. A typical model of a partner's UE to seek services with the Wholesale Operator is Offloading; another model is Coverage Extension; a third model is pure Mobile Virtual Network Operation.
A Wholesale Operator is an entity that owns radio frequency spectrum, and owns and operates a regional Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) comprising wide area, cellular radio access and associated core networks, logical parts of which are allocated (in a controlled manner) for the use of partners/retailers who in turn offer services (e.g., packet data network) to their UEs. The controlled, possibly dynamic allocation of network resources mentioned above is known as Network Sharing and there are several modes/architectures possible for this.
Network Sharing Architecture deals with the various sharing modes possible that specify details such as who owns and operates which network element and if they are shared and how shared (Wholesale Operator network) network elements interface with the partner network elements. Network Sharing Architecture deals with this concept on a general basis wherein a single Wholesale Operator (shared) network may interface simultaneously with different partners each with its own method (or architecture) for sharing. Network Sharing Architecture also deals with how the partner is advertised in the Wholesale Operator (shared) eNodeB (eNB) network, i.e., through either a broadcast PLMN ID or an equivalent PLMN ID (for example, the Wholesale Operator's own PLMN ID) and in particular, how the partner (home operator) PLMN ID or partner ID associated with a UE connecting to a shared eNB and to a shared Mobility Management Entity (MME) is identified.
Mobility Management consists of Redirection, Handover, or Cell Reselection. Partner Identification of each UE being “offloaded” to or seeking access to services in the Wholesale Operator Network helps properly deploy the appropriate partner specific Mobility Management procedures.